Deck 9: The Rise of Modern Humans

Question 1

Postorbital constriction is a condition in which

A) the width across the orbits is greater than the width of the area behind them.
B) the width across the orbits is less than the width of the area behind them.
C) the width above the orbits is greater than the width of the area below them.
D) the width below the orbits is greater than the width of the area above them.

Answer 1

the width across the orbits is greater than the width of the area behind them.

Question 2

Fossils of the genus Homo found in Africa and Eurasia and dating from about 500,000 to 100,000 years ago exhibit all of the following morphological changes from the characteristic patterns of Homo erectus EXCEPT

A) slightly thinner cranial bones.
B) decreased size of the occipital relative to the nuchal plane.
C) reduced postorbital constriction.
D) a separated supraorbital torus.

Answer 2

decreased size of the occipital relative to the nuchal plane.

Question 3

Fossils of the genus Homo found in Africa and Eurasia and dating from about 500,000 to 100,000 years ago exhibit all of the following morphological changes from the characteristic patterns of Homo erectus EXCEPT

A) a larger and slightly higher cranial vault.
B) a larger supraorbital torus.
C) a less prognathic face.
D) a reduced occipital torus.

Answer 3

a larger supraorbital torus.

Question 4

Archaic humans lived between about

A) 1,000,000 and 500,000 years ago.
B) 500,000 and 100,000 years ago.
C) 600,000 and 30,000 years ago.
D) 50,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT true regarding archaic humans?

A) They date to between 600,000 and 30,000 years ago.
B) They are found in Africa and Eurasia.
C) Some people refer to some of the specimens as Homo neaderthalensis.
D) They reflect morphologies very similar to modern humans.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT true regarding archaic humans?

A) They reflect morphologies relatively distinct from Homo erectus.
B) Some people refer to some of the specimens as Homo heidelbergensis.
C) They date to between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago.
D) They are in the genus Homo.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of the three possible species of Homo that lived between 2.0 and 0.5 million years ago?

A) Homo antecessor
B) Homo ergaster
C) Homo erectus
D) Homo rudolfensis

Question 8

Another name for the occipital torus is the

A) nuchal torus.
B) supraorbital torus.
C) postorbital torus.
D) sagittal torus.

Question 9

What is a retromolar gap?

A) The space in front of the first molar.
B) The space in front of the last molar.
C) The space behind the first molar.
D) The space behind the last molar.

Question 10

Although it is debated, depending on the dates, locations, and morphological characteristics, all of the following could be grouped together EXCEPT one. Which one of the following CANNOT be grouped with the others?

A) archaic Homo sapiens
B) Homo heidelbergensis
C) Homo neanderthalensis
D) Homo erectus

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT true about Mousterian industry?

A) It was a stone tool technology.
B) Flakes were produced with little effort.
C) It represented a refinement of the Olduwan technique.
D) It was found at many Neanderthal sites.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT true about Mousterian industry?

A) It produced tools of a narrow range size.
B) It centered on a disk-core technique.
C) It produced many good flakes.
D) It yielded a wide variety of tools.

Question 13

Classic H. erectus traits include all of the following EXCEPT

A) a sagittal keel.
B) a discontinuous supraorbital torus.
C) a long cranium.
D) an occipital torus.

Question 14

Classic H. erectus traits include all of the following EXCEPT

A) a high cranium.
B) a robust mandible.
C) a fairly robust supraorbital torus.
D) no chin.

Question 15

A canine fossa is

A) the indentation on the maxilla above the canine root.
B) the indentation on the mandible above the canine root.
C) the indentation on the maxilla below the canine root.
D) the indentation on the mandible below the canine root.

Question 16

Pneumatized means

A) large, protruding bones.
B) large, air-filled sinuses.
C) marked neck muscle attachments on the skull.
D) marked quadrucep muscle attachments on the femur.

Question 17

Blade tools are made from

A) stone flakes that are at least twice as wide as they are long.
B) bones that are at least twice as wide as they are long.
C) stone flakes that are at least twice as long as they are wide.
D) bones that are at least twice as long as they are wide.

Question 18

Suprainic fossa are

A) large, protruding bones.
B) large, air-filled sinuses.
C) marked neck muscle attachments on the skull.
D) marked quadrucep muscle attachments on the femur.

Question 19

The mandibular symphysis is

A) the point where the retromolar gap contacts the mandible.
B) the point where the two parts of the mandibular ramus contact one another.
C) the point where the maxilla and mandible contact one another.
D) the point where the two halves of the mandible contact one another.

Question 20

Fossils from which of the following sites are NOT considered to represent some of the earliest known fossils of anatomically modern Homo sapiens?

A) Terra Amata
B) Qafzeh
C) Klassies River Mouth
D) Skhul

Question 21

The ___________, dating to approximately 600,000 years ago, is the oldest probable archaic human specimen.

A) Dali cranium, found in the Shaanxi Province of China in 1978
B) Lake Ndutu skull, found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1973
C) Bodo cranium, discovered in Ethiopia in 1976
D) Kabwe, or Broken Hill, cranium, found in Zambia in 1921

Question 22

The ___________, has been dated to between 300,000 and 130,000 years ago.

A) Dali cranium, found in the Shaanxi Province of China in 1978
B) Lake Ndutu skull, found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1973
C) Bodo cranium, discovered in Ethiopia in 1976
D) Kabwe, or Broken Hill, cranium, found in Zambia in 1921

Question 23

The ___________, dates from about 400,000 to 200,000 years ago.

A) Dali cranium, found in the Shaanxi Province of China in 1978
B) Lake Ndutu skull, found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1973
C) Bodo cranium, discovered in Ethiopia in 1976
D) Kabwe, or Broken Hill, cranium, found in Zambia in 1921

Question 24

The ___________, dates to between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago.

A) Dali cranium, found in the Shaanxi Province of China in 1978
B) Lake Ndutu skull, found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1973
C) Bodo cranium, discovered in Ethiopia in 1976
D) Kabwe, or Broken Hill, cranium, found in Zambia in 1921

Question 25

Fossil assignments to the taxon ____________ were based on the fact that they seem to link H. erectus and H. sapiens, but are not easily placed in either one.

A) Homo antecessor
B) Homo rudolfensis
C) Homo heidelbergensis
D) Homo neaderthalensis

Question 26

There are at least 60 known types of tools made using

A) Levallois techniques.
B) Acheulean techniques.
C) Mousterian techniques.
D) Olduwan techniques.

Question 27

As early as 400,000 years ago, archaic humans were doing all of the following EXCEPT

A) building shelters of wood.
B) using wood spears two meters long.
C) using and controlling fire.
D) cave painting.

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the Levallois toolmaking technique?

A) It started in Eurasia and spread to Africa.
B) It involved more complex preparation of stones to make tools.
C) It provided higher quality tools.
D) It provided tools that could be refined for a wide variety of uses.

Question 29

Evidence exists that H. heidelbergensis did all of the following EXCEPT

A) hunt cooperatively.
B) use spoken language to communicate.
C) produce complex tools.
D) live in groups.

Question 30

Evidence exists that Neanderthals did all of the following EXCEPT

A) live together in communities.
B) work together in communities.
C) use complex symbolic expression.
D) bury their dead.

Question 31

The oldest fossil representatives of anatomically modern humans come from

A) Australia.
B) Africa.
C) Eurasia.
D) the Americas.

Question 32

The oldest fossils classified as modern humans, dating to between 160,000 and 154,000 years ago, were found in/at

A) Florisbad in South Africa.
B) Omo in Tanzania.
C) Klassies River Mouth in South Africa.
D) Herto Bouri in Ethiopia.

Question 33

A number of mandibular and postcranial fossils representing up to ten individuals, dating to between 118,000 and 60,000 years ago, were found in/at

A) Florisbad in South Africa.
B) Omo in Tanzania.
C) Klassies River Mouth in South Africa.
D) Herto Bouri in Ethiopia.

Question 34

How old is the oldest human fossil (a cranium with two modern features) found at the famous site of Laetoli?

A) about 150,000 years
B) about 120,000 years
C) about 100,000 years
D) about 125,000 years

Question 35

A partially complete cranium that dates to about 100,000 years ago was found in/at

A) Florisbad in South Africa.
B) Omo in Tanzania.
C) Klassies River Mouth in South Africa.
D) Herto Bouri in Ethiopia.

Question 36

Adult and juvenile crania and a mandible dating to between 125,000 and 90,000 years ago were found at

A) Qafzeh in the Middle East.
B) Die Kelders in South Africa.
C) Skhul in the Middle East.
D) Jebel Irhoud in North Africa.

Question 37

Crania dating to approximately 110,000 to 80,000 years ago that have Neanderthal features as well as many modern features, were found at

A) Qafzeh in the Middle East.
B) Die Kelders in South Africa.
C) Skhul in the Middle East.
D) Jebel Irhoud in North Africa.

Question 38

Fossils dating to about 100,000 to 90,000 years ago that exhibit some transitional features, but share more similarities to anatomically modern humans than archaics, especially in the presence of a chin, were found at

A) Qafzeh in the Middle East.
B) Die Kelders in South Africa.
C) Skhul in the Middle East.
D) Jebel Irhoud in North Africa.

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the fossil evidence found at Jebel Irhoud in North Africa?

A) The frontal bone is more vertical.
B) The crania are long and wide.
C) The face is nearly flush with the frontal.
D) None of the mandibles show a clear chin.

Question 40

Fossils fitting the descriptions of modern humans and dating to approximately 30,000 years ago were found

A) at Liujang in China.
B) at Zhoukoudian in China.
C) on Java and Borneo.
D) at the Mungo 3 burial site in Australia.

Question 41

Fossils displaying a mix of archaic and modern characteristics (more modern than archaic) and dating to approximately 70,000 years ago were found

A) at Liujang in China.
B) at Zhoukoudian in China.
C) on Java and Borneo.
D) at the Mungo 3 burial site in Australia.

Question 42

Fossils dating to approximately 60,000 years ago were found

A) at Liujang in China.
B) at Zhoukoudian in China.
C) on Java and Borneo.
D) at the Mungo 3 burial site in Australia.

Question 43

Fossils exhibiting strongly robust features reminiscent of Homo heidelbergensis, but fully modern in all other ways, and dating to approximately 40,000 years ago, were found

A) at Liujang in China.
B) at Zhoukoudian in China.
C) on Java and Borneo.
D) at the Mungo 3 burial site in Australia.

Question 44

The ____________ model proposes that modern humans are the most recent morphological form in a species that has been around for nearly 2 million years.

A) Multiregional Evolution (MRE)
B) Multiple Dispersal (MD)
C) Recent African Origin (RAO)
D) Recent African Origin-Hybrid (RAO-H)

Question 45

The ____________ variant of the Recent African Origin model posits that modern humans out-competed archaic humans in the same environments, until the archaics eventually became extinct.

A) Hybrid
B) Replacement
C) Assimilation
D) Expansion

Question 46

Name and describe the functions of four morphological changes seen in Homo found in Africa and Eurasia dating from about 500,000 to 100,000 years ago that differ from the characteristic patterns of Homo erectus.

Question 47

Compare and contrast five traits of archaic and early modern humans.

Question 48

Compare and contrast five traits of neanderthals and early modern humans.

Question 49

Compare and contrast the three main models of the origin of modern humans. Give one piece of evidence for each model and one piece of evidence against each model.

Question 50

Describe the very complex material culture that coincides with the appearance of modern humans. Your Answer: should include at least two examples from three of the following categories; blades and associated industries that revolutionized the human tool kit, changing technologies and behavioral patterns that affected diet, the use of art and symbols, or burial of the dead and postmortem modification.